KYIV: At least eight people, including two children, were killed and 10 others were wounded on Saturday by a Russian missile that hit a five-story residential building in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack and called for an international response. He said that Russia struck Ukraine overnight with 29 missiles and 480 drones, targeting energy facilities in Kyiv and other central regions and with damage reported in at least seven other locations across the country.
According to preliminary data, air defence systems downed 19 missiles and 453 drones, with hits from 9 missiles and 26 strike drones recorded at 22 locations.
In Kharkiv, in Ukraine's northeast, emergency workers were combing the rubble, looking for survivors. Among the dead are a primary school teacher and her son, a second-grade student, who were killed in their home and an eighth-grader who also died with her mother, according to the city's mayor, Ihor Terekhov.
The regional Prosecutors' Office said the building was hit by a new Russian cruise missile known as Izdeliye-30. Ukrainian reports said that the new subsonic air-launched weapon that Russia has recently started to use against Ukraine has a range of 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) and is equipped with a new satellite navigation system more resistant to jamming.
In the Kyiv region, damage from debris was reported in three districts, according to local authorities. In the southern Odesa region, 80 firefighters were called in to help battle massive fires at infrastructure facilities following an attack with multiple drones. Ukraine's state rail operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said damage to the rail infrastructure forced changes to a number of routes in the centre-west of the country.
In Moscow, the Russian Defence Ministry said the overnight strike targeted Ukrainian military factories, energy facilities and air bases.
“There must be a response from partners to these savage strikes against life," Zelenskyy said in a post on X. “Russia has not abandoned its attempts to destroy Ukraine's residential and critical infrastructure, and therefore support must continue. We count on active work with the European Union to guarantee greater protection for our people. I am grateful to everyone who helps strengthen our protection.”
Russia has fired tens of thousands of Iranian-designed drones at Ukraine since it invaded its neighbour just over four years ago. It has launched a large-scale domestic production of them and battered Ukraine with hundreds of drones in a single night more than were used during some entire months in 2024.
Iran has responded to joint US-Israeli strikes by launching the same type of Shahed drones at countries in the Middle East.
Zelenskyy said he had received a US request for support to defend against the Iranian drones in the Middle East and had given the order for equipment to be provided along with Ukrainian experts.
The war in the Middle East has drawn international attention away from Europe's biggest conflict since World War II, and forced the postponement of a new round of US-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine planned for this week.